Jay Stotts of Texas (right) will chair the jury at AMERICOVER 2010, which takes place at the Chicago Marriott Oak Brook Aug. 6-8. Joining him on the panel are Tim Bartshe of Colorado, Allison Cusick of Pennsylvania, Frederick Lawrence of Arizona, and Dominick Riccio of New York. All of the jurors are accredited American Philatelic Society national judges.

AMERICOVER 2010 is a World Series of Philately show dedicated to first day covers and the annual convention of the American First Day Cover Society. It will feature 160 frames of competitive philatelic exhibits, commercial and cachetmakers bourses, seminars and meetings. Admission to the show is free and open to the public.

“AMERICOVER is the preferred venue for exhibiting illustrated mail and first day covers," Alan Warren, chairman of the AFDCS Judges Accreditation Committee, observes. "Cacheted FDCs (illustrated mail) as well as earliest known or documented uses of postage stamps (postal history) are the features of this show."

The Grand Award winner at AMERICOVER is invited to enter the annual Champion of Champions competition held at the American Philatelic Society's StampShow the following August.

Stotts is a past president and current board member of the United States Stamp Society. He also served eight years on the APS Committee for the Accreditation of National Exhibitions and Judges (CANEJ). Jay exhibits 20th century U.S. and has received numerous awards for his articles and exhibits. Bartshe is currently president of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors and has held office in the United Postal Stationery Society, the Philatelic Society for Greater Southern Africa, and the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show. A prolific exhibitor, Tim has shown material in many different disciplines including first day covers, postal stationery, traditional philately, postal history, and picture post cards among others. Cusick is a past president, vice president, and board member of the American First Day Cover Society. He has written extensively in the Society’s journal First Days and also published a monograph, Linprint Photo Cachet Catalog. He chairs the Society’s expertizing committee and manages the Society’s archives at the American Philatelic Research Library.

Lawrence is an accredited national and international judge with expertise in British South Africa, Czechoslovakia, aero/astro philately, and thematics among others, especially on Scouting. He serves on the organizing committee of the ARIPEX shows, where he is responsible for awards and judges.

Riccio has been an accredited APS judge since 1987 and specializes in Eastern European countries, U.S. revenues, and Ryukyu Islands. He is past advertising manager and editor of The Czechoslovak Specialist.